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reCAPTCHA in WP comments form

by jmviade · Security

Also makes 1 other plugin · 8.0K+ installs across the portfolio →

reCAPTCHA in WP comments form is an ANTISPAM tool that adds a Google reCAPTCHA to the comments form and protects your site from the spam robots threat …

⚠ Stale⚠ Likely abandoned
How scoring works →
45 Health · D
Maintenance 3/100
Rating quality 76/100
Support 70/100

45 health vs 64 average across 997 Security plugins

High removal-risk signals

63/100

Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.

  • Long abandoned. No update in 7+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
  • Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 5.1.24, well behind 6.8.

Directory ranking optimization

How it's scored →

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

45 / 100

Under-optimized

Biggest win: Update recency

Update recency 1/100
WP compatibility 13/100
Rating quality 75/100
Listing tuning 100/100

To rank higher: Last updated 2686 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.

Get the full rank-higher report →

Daily downloads

Since 2022-10-05 · 1,424 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+89% vs prior 30d
0Downloads · Aug 26

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges

246

now · peak 497

24230d downloads · Aug 26

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

reCAPTCHA in WP comm · #2496 you reCaptcha by BestWeb · #337 CAPTCHA 4WP · #428 hCaptcha for WP · #565

Rating trend

Star average over time · dips mark rough releases

4.1Stars · Aug 26

Update activity

How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.

30per 1k installs · Aug 26

Release cadence

No release in a year
from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

0

releases in the last 12 months

7.4y ago

latest release · v9.1.2

11

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

9.1.2 · 7.4y ago9.1.1 · 7.4y ago9.1.0 · 8.1y ago9.0.3 · 9.3y ago0.0.9.0.2 · 9.7y ago0.0.8 · 9.9y ago0.0.8.1 · 9.9y ago0.0.8.2 · 9.9y ago0.0.8.2.1 · 9.9y ago0.0.9 · 9.9y ago0.0.9.0.1 · 9.9y ago

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 98% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v9.1 98%
Older / other versions 1.9%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “8K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
8K–9K ≈8.4K

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

Install history · since 2016-10-21 · 1,431 observations

8KInstalls · Aug 26

Estimated value

What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.

Est. annual revenue

N/A

Est. acquisition value

N/A

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from.

Details

Version
9.1.2
Last updated
7.4y ago
Added
2016-06-29 · 10 yrs old
Requires WP
4.0.0
Tested up to
5.1.24
Requires PHP

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. IT_Architect
    3.6y ago

    It does not work. When you hit the button, it gives a green check and passes everyone.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. elikattoura
    5.6y ago

    Tested on WordPress 5.6 and it worked perfectly fine

    Read on wp.org ↗
  3. Rik
    5.7y ago

    not working, the captcha wont appear and comments will be put into spam folder automatically after configuration is complete. support questions in the last 2 years are unanswered as well, as we can see here. Wouldn’t bother with this plugin . This topic was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Rik.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  4. Anonymous
    6.0y ago

    I’ve used this plugin for a few years and it worked great – until WP 5.5 when it caused the comments ‘submit’ button on my blog and theme to cease working. I’ve now deactivated it and found an alternative plugin and my readers can now post comments again.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  5. gertrudew
    6.2y ago

    Nice, simple and very helpful recaptcha!

    Read on wp.org ↗
  6. intellectminds1
    6.8y ago

    Hello, I have integrated this plugin to my site but it is not working on Chrome Browser but it works well on Firefox. Any help on this issue? Thanks

    Read on wp.org ↗
  7. cahardy
    7.0y ago

    Hope this gets fixed; currently unusable.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  8. briannie
    7.1y ago

    This is very disappointing on two counts. I have a client whose website is being bombarded by bots and so, on that basis, I installed this reCaptcha plugin. Unfortunately I can’t get it to work – it could well be me but that’s disappointment 1. Disappointment 2 is that it’s now Two days and 13 hours since very politely asking for help and no response. In the meantime my client gets more and more concerned. I can wait no longer so plugin deleted and another solution found where reCaptcha works beautifully. Looking back through the reviews I see some as old as a year and no help given so I guess with this author that’s just par for the course. Sad really!

    Read on wp.org ↗

Latest updates

via wp.org changelog

Recent releases and news for this plugin

  1. Version 9.1.2 Update error correction 9.1.2
  2. Version 9.1.1 Correction admin URL in ajax calls for non standard wp installations Tested up wp 5.1.1 Also tested with theme Twenty Nineteen 9.1.1
  3. Version 9.1.0 New plugin settings for supporting different WP comments form HTML structure types Adding javascript methods based on HTML queries (instead of just ID attributes) for inserting reCAPTCHA plugin Improving dynamic comments 9.1.0
  4. Version 9.0.3 Adapt the plugin to new google error messages contents to avoid fake falses because of Google adds a new error for any “duplicated test” Change the plugin versioning schema to 0.0.x.y.z to x.y.z for improving Composer or 9.0.3
  5. Version 0.0.9.0 Upload error correction 0.0.9.0
  6. Version 0.0.9 New installation Wizard when you install the plugin from scratch Also automatic Installation Wizard launch when no reCAPTCHA API keys detected New visual dinamic interface for Google reCAPTCHA settings configuration New 0.0.9

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3

Low memory footprint
Low page-speed impact
Runs on latest PHP + WP
No PHP errors
No JS errors
Activates cleanly
No resource errors
No external HTTP errors
Optimized database use
Frequently updated

Languages

via translate.wordpress.org

Translated into 5 languages, 0 at 90% or more

Spanish (Chile) 81%
Spanish (Spain) 81%
Ukrainian 12%
Portuguese (Brazil) 9%
Chinese (China) 1%

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

  1. 2026-03-25 9K+ → 8K+ down after 247 days in tier
  2. 2025-07-21 10K+ → 9K+ down after 1 days in tier
  3. 2025-07-20 9K+ → 10K+ up after 3 days in tier
  4. 2025-07-17 10K+ → 9K+ down after 1 days in tier
  5. 2025-07-16 9K+ → 10K+ up after 3 days in tier
  6. 2025-07-13 10K+ → 9K+ down

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Compare head to head →

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<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/recaptcha-in-wp-comments-form" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="reCAPTCHA in WP comments form — Plugin Pulse"></iframe>
Preview card ↗

reCAPTCHA in WP comments form: 8K+ active installs, 4.1★ (20 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-29. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/recaptcha-in-wp-comments-form